Today, the new contest begins. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the process, here’s how it works: everyone who comments will be automatically entered. Two winners will be chosen at random, and notified by Jen. Once we have our winners’ snail mail info, we’ll ship each of them an autographed copy of my latest book. If you won’t win this time around, no worries. Just keep entering.

I was fighting a cold all weekend, so I whipped up a batch of my homemade chicken soup–good stuff. I already had a pot of bone broth brewing in my big slow cooker/roaster, which holds 18 quarts. The bone broth is super nourishing, and it’s really quite easy to assemble the ingredients; it has to simmer for around 24 hours, however, which is why I use the cooker instead of a regular kettle on the stove. That being broth day, I also made a batch of mushroom broth, for future risotto. My cousin called to ask if I was writing or resting, and I said neither–the cooking was no problem, but the clean-up wore me right out.

I’m still on my kids’ book kick, and listened to three books by Tara Dairman over the weekend, while cooking. Her stories about an 11-year-old foodie named Gladys Gatsby are delightful–I loved them all. The first is ALL FOUR STARS, the second is THE STARS OF SUMMER, and the third is STARS SO SWEET. If you thinking of giving books as gifts this year (always a good idea), I can certainly recommend these clever, entertaining and painlessly educational stories–I was prompted to purchase Vietnamese Cinnamon–by Gladys! She’s a restaurant critic for a major newspaper, not to mention a world-class cook in her own right, so she knows these things. Yes, a restaurant critic, at the ripe age of 11. And that’s another thing I liked about these books–they show kids doing amazing things, and if they inspired me, they’re bound to do the same and more for children. I sure hope there will be further episodes, because I’m hooked.

NORTH OF EDEN is coming along well–I’m about halfway through the book–and I’m loving it. Because I’m writing about the actual battle at the moment, I have to stop and check facts a lot, but that’s okay. I learn something new every time.

A shout-out to Karen, my good friend in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Karen jumped out of bed in the middle of the night, tripped over her sleeping dog, and broke her foot! She was quick to assure me that the dog was not hurt. Feel better soon, Karen, and stay off that foot. And the dog.

Thanksgiving was a lovely day, with Wendy and Jeremy and their two beautiful dogs, Margie and Lily, present for a nice traditional dinner and lots of good fun. I was pretty lazy; the kids did most of the cooking, and that was fine by me. Of course the best thing about any holiday is a chance to share it with people you love, and I sincerely hope your celebrations were as joyous as ours.

I didn’t think I ate that much, but I must have been in a turkey coma, because I slept so deeply, I had a hard time waking up this morning. I guess I must have gotten more tryptophan than I thought.

I made a quick grocery store run today, but I steered WAY clear of the Black Friday frenzy everywhere else. Since I’m coming down with a slight cold, I decided to make a batch of chicken soup–it really IS medicinal, you know–and I have a big kettle of bone broth simmering away, too. I’ll tell you more about that next week, though I’m sure many of you are aware of the phenom. For now, it’s enough to say, this cowgirl loves a cup of homemade bone broth when she’s feeling a little less than great.

I’ve also been listening to books, of course, because I am ALWAYS listening to books. I have been on a YA kick for a while, so I took in “Circus Mirandus” by Cassie Beasley (wonderful story, full of magic!) and “The Whizbang Machine”, by Danielle A Vann. This is the first of a series and I can’t wait for more–nonstop action and some spots so tight I wondered how the characters would get out of them. Working with the Civil War every day, specifically the Battle of Gettysburg, I’m happy to listen to books for young folks just for a change.

Hope you enjoy your weekend, and your leftovers–the best part of a turkey dinner.